Thin-place preventer for looms



April 7, 1931. w. A. TEBO I THIN PLACE PREVENTER FOR LOOMS Filed June12, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet l L E i M lnvenTor.

William A.Tebo b fiw Wz M ATTy-S.

w. A. TEBO 1,799,995

THIN PLACE PREVENTER FOR LOOMS Filed June 12, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Flg.2.

April 7, 1931.

sz zs InvenTor.

ATTyS.

Willidm A. Tebo byw QHHHHIl IE Patented Apr. 7, 1931.

UNITED srars ATENT OFFICE WILLIAM A. 'IEBO, 013 ANTHONY, REIODE ESL AND,ASSIGNOI TO "DRALPER CORPORATION,

OF HOPEDALE, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MAINE THIN-PLACE PREVENTERFOR LOOMS Application filed June 12, 1929. Serial No. 370,337.

, by failure of filling either through breakage of filling or theexhaustion of filling upon the filling carrier.

It has heretofore been customary to avoid the appearance of thin placesin the cloth caused by the omission of one or more strands of filling,or by a broken strand of filling, for the operator to rub the clothtoward the fell and toward the selvage in such a manner as sli htly tospread the filling strands so that the thin place would not be clearlyapparent. One of the objects of the present invention is to providemeans operable upon detection of .failure of filling to stretch theclothand' thereby cause a slight rearward movement of '1 the fell whichwill prevent the production of a thin place because of the omission of apartial strand, or one or more strands of filling.

A further object of the invention is to provide means operable upondetection of failure of filling to stretch the cloth for the purposeabove stated, comprising clamping means operable momentarily to engagethe cloth, with means operable momentarily thereafter to stretch thecloth from the clamp to-the take- A further object of the invention isto provide guiding members spaced apart to direct the cloth to thetake-up roll, with clamping means momentarily operable upon detection tof failure of filling to clamp the cloth upon the rearward guidingmember, and means momentarily operable thereafter to move the clothtransversely between the guiding members and thereby stretch the clothfor the purpose above stated.

A further object of the invention is to provide clamping and stretchingmeans of the character above described operable by the forward movementof the rocking layupon initiation of a change in the operation of theloom following the detection of failure of filling.

Thesev and other objects and features of the invention will more fullyappear from the following description and the accompanying drawings andwill be particularly pointed out in the claims.

In th-edrawings:

Fig. l is a view in side elevation of a portion of a loom embodying theinvention, look- J,

ing from the center of the loom toward one side, and shown partially invertical cross section;

Fig. 2 is a detail view of the guiding, clamping and stretching meanslooking toward the front of the loom on line 2-2 Fig. 1, the cloth beingshown in vertical section;

Fig. 3 is a detail View of a guide plate secured to the sword of therocking lay showing the actuator rod for the clamping and stretchmgmechanism in cross section;

Fig. 4; is a. detail view of a modified form of stretching roller; and,

Fig. 5 is an end elevation of the device illustrated in Fig. 4.

A preferred embodiment ofthe invention is shown as embodied in a usualtype of loom which may be either an ordinary loom, or a fillingreplenishing type of loom, in which failure of filling is detected byfilling fork mechanism which actuates the usual controller rock shaft.Inasmuch as the mechanism of the loom is and may be of a'usual type onlyso much of the 100m is illustrated as is necessary to shou theembodiment of the present invention therein.

In the construction illustrated in the drawings the loom comprises theside frames 1, a rocking lay 2 including the usual swords 3, and shedforming mechanism (not shown) from which the cloth 4 is guided to atake-up roll 5 and thence to the cloth roll 6. In the particularconstruction illustrated guiding members 7 and 8, preferably in the formof rollers, are mounted respectively in bosses 9 and extending upwardlyfrom the breast beam 11, and the web of cloth is led over these guidingmembers thence downwardly beneath a guiding roll 12 to the take-up 5,around the take-up roll and over guiding rolls 13 and 14 and a guide bar15 to the cloth roll 6.

The invention broadly contemplates ,the provision of mechanism operableupon initiation of a change in the operation of the loom, caused by thedetection of failure of filling by a filling fork, momentarily tostretch the cloth and thereby cause a limited rearward movement or" thetell of the cloth, so that upon continuation of the weaving operationthe forward movement of the lay will beat the filling firmly against thetell of the cloth. Preferably this is accomplished by providing meansmomentarily operable upon initiation of a change in the operation of theloom to clamp the cloth, and means momentarily operable while the clothis so clamped to stretch the cloth between the clamping means and thetake-up roll, so that when the cloth is released the resilience of thewarp will draw the tell of cloth rearwardly such limited distance as toenable the filling, upon continuation of the weaving oporation to beproperly beaten against the tell of the cloth, thereby avoiding theproduction of a thin place in the cloth.

In the particular construction illustrated a shaft 16 is mounted insuitable hearings in brackets 17 mounted upon the breast beam 11 aboveand intern'iediate of the guiding m mbers 7 and S. T is shaft hassecured to it a nieml .r having a longitudinally extending enlargementoperable upon rotation of the shaft to engage the section of clothintermediate oi. the guiding members.

In the construction illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, the shaft haseccentrically mounted upon and secured to it a roller 18, the eccentricportion 19 of the roller forming the enlargement which engages andstretches the cloth. The shaft 16 so mounted in relation to the normalplane of the web a: of cloth passing over the guiding members 7 and 8 asto permit the eccentric portion or enlargement of the roller to beraised above said plane during the normal operation of the loom, butupon rotation of the roller when a change in the operation of the loomis initiated to cause said enlargement to move transversely across theplane of the web of the cloth, thereby depressing the same intermediateof the guiding members 7 and 8 and imposing sullicient tension upon thecloth slightly to stretch the same.

Obviously other forms of mechanism may be provided to produce thisfunction. One of such modifications is illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5 inwhich the enlargement of the roller 18 comprises a rib 19.7: whichextends longitudinally of the roller and in angular relation to the axisthereof, so that as the roller is rotated the enlargement or rib 190;will progressively engage the web of cloth in a direction toward aselvage thereof, thus in a measure simulating the usual action of aweaver in smoothing and stretching the cloth by hand to avoid theproduction of a thin place.

Any suitable means may be provided for supporting the enlargement of theroller normally out of engagement with the cloth and for causing it toengage the cloth. In the preferred construction illustrated hereinhelical springs 20, which are coiled upon the end portions of the shaft16, have offset end portions 21 engaging the brackets 17 in which theshaft is journalled. The opposite ends of the springs are oilset andextend into suitable apertures in collars 22 which are adjustablysecured to the shaft 16 by set screws 23. The springs 20 are undersullicient tension normally to rotate the roller in a counterclockwisedirection and the rotation of the rollers in such direction may belimited by suitable means to retain the enlargement out of engagementwith the cloth.

[is illustrated herein t 1e shaft 16 has secured to it an arm whichextends downwardly through a slot 25 in the breast beam 11 and the slotis of such length that when the arm engages the wall 26 at the rear endof the slot it will limit the rotary movement of the roller under theaction of the springs 20, thereby holding tl e enlargement of the rollerabove the plane of the portion of the cloth l which extends over theguides 7 and 8.

In order to enable the cloth to be stretched a predetermined amount bythe movement of the enlar ement of the roller transverselj. across theplane of the warp between the guiding members 7 and 8, means areprovided for clamping the cloth rearwardly of the roller 18, so thatwhen the enlargement 19 of the roller 18 engages the cloth it will or;-ert a tension upon the cloth which will stretch it from the take-up rollto the clamp.

In the preferred construction illustrated the clamp comprises a bar 27which lies above and extends longitudinally of the rearward guidingmember or roller 7 in 'co-operative clamping relation thereto. The bar27 is fixedly secured in the ends of arms 28 which are provided at theiropposite ends with bosses 29 which are rotatably mounted upon the shaft16. Spiral springs 30, surrounding the shaft, are provided wi h oilsetends 31 which engage the arms 28 and also with offset ends which engagerecesses in collars 32 which are adjustably secured to the shaft 16 byscrews r he springs are undersuflicient tension normally to depress theclamping bar 27 toward the roller, but the downward movements of thearms 28 and bar 27 are limited by stops such as studs 34 projecting fromthe arms 24 into the path of the clamping arms 28, the springs being ofgreater strength slightly in advance of the engagement of the cloth bythe enlargement 19 of the roller.

It is desirable that the stretching of the cloth required to permit aslight rearward movement of the fell ofv the cloth to prevent theproduction of a thin place shall take place momentarily immediately upondetection of failure of filling by the filling fork, and means areprovided for accomplishing this purpose which are actuated by or throughthe mechanism for effecting a change in the operation of the loom upondetection of failure of filling by the filling fork. lhis preferably iseffected in the particular construction illustrated by mechanismoperated from the locking lay which is brought into operation by therotation of the usual Controller rod caused bythe act-ion of the fillingfork mechanism upon detection of failure of filling.

In the particular construction illustrated Elie arm 24: has pivotallyconnected to its lower end a rod which extends obliquely downwardly andmerges into an arcuate portion 36 which is substantially concentric withthe path of movement of the lay. The rod 35 is normally supported upon astud 37 projecting from the loom side and extends through a slot 38 in aplate 39 which is secured to one of the swords 3. A hook-shaped member40 is adjustably secured to the arcuate portion 36 of the actuating rod35 by slot and screw connections 41 and 4:2, with the hooked portion 43of said member extending upwardly from the rod and adapted to engage thewall at at the up or end of the slot 88 when the actuating rod israised, so t-hatup'on beat-up of the lay the actuating rod will be movedendwise, thereby swinging the arm 24 of the roller 16 forwardly, asillustrated in dotted lines in Fig. 1, and consequently moving theenlargement 19 of the stretching. roller 16 downwardly into engagementwith and transversely across the plane of the section of the cloth whichsupported by the guides T and 8. p

The mechanism for raising the actuating rod into operative positioncomprises an arm which is secured to the usual controller rock shaft 16andextends upwardly above and across the lay and is preferably connectedby a spring l7 to the rod 35.

In the operation of the loom, therefore, upon detection of failure offilling by the filling fork, thecontroller rock shaft will be ro fatedby the usual filling fork mechanism in a counterclockwise direction,thereby raising the rear end of the arm 45 and through the spring 4?raising the actuating rod 35 suliiciently to causethe member 40thereupon to be engaged by the wall 4% of the plate 39 upon the sword.As the rocking laymoves forwardly such engagement will move theactuating rod endwise, thereby causing the arm 2% of the roller torotate the shaft 16 in a clockwise direction, first causing the clampingmember 27 to engage thecloth and clamp it against the rear guide 7 andthereafter to move the enlargement 19 of the stretching roller 18transversely of the cloth, thus de pressing the cloth intermediate ofthe guiding members 7 and 8 and stretching the portion of the clothbetween thec'lanip' and the take-uproller. The rotative movement of theroller 18, after the engagement of the clamping member 27 with the guide7, is permitted by reason of the fact that the arms 28 of the clampingmember are rotatably mounted upon the shaft 16, with the spring 30providing a yielding connection between the shaft 16 and the arms 28 ofthe clamp.

Inasmuch the actuation of the controller rod to initiate a changein theoperation of the loom is momentary, the actuation of the controllershaft to establish co-operative relation between the actuating rod andthe rocking lay is likewise momentary, and only effective upon a singlebeat-up of the lay. Therefore, upon rearward movement of'the lay theclamping mechanism will be released and the enlargement 19 of the roller18 rotated out of engagement with the cloth and restored to normalposition. The stretching'of the cloth effected by such momentary actionwill, therefore, permit a slight rearward movement of the fell of thecloth, so that the'next strand ofifilling will be laid properly uponthefell of the cloth. T

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent, isz

1. A loom having means operable by a filling fork upon detection offailure. of filling to effect a change in the operation of the loom, andmeans operable upon initiation of such change first positively to clampthe web of cloth and then to stretch the cloth and thereby cause alimited rearward movement of the fell of the cloth to prevent theproduction of-a' thin place in the cloth;

2. A loom having means operable by a filling fork upon detection offailure of filling to effect a change in the operation ofthe loom, meansincluding clamping means momentarily operable upon initiation of suchchange to engage the cloth and to stretch the same from the take-up rollto said clamping means'and thereby cause alimited rearward movement ofthe fell of the cloth to prevent the production of a thin place in thecloth Sll 3. A loom having means operable by a filling fork upondetection of failure of filling to effect a change in the operation ofthe loom, clamping means momentarily operable upon initiation of suchchange to engage the cloth, and a member momentarily movable intoengagement with the cloth and trans versely thereof acting to stretchthe cloth from the take-up roll to the clamping means, and thereby causea limited rearward move- -ment of the fell of the cloth to prevent theproduction of a thin place in the cloth.

4. A loom having means operable by a filling fork upon detection offailure of filling to effect a change in the operation of the loom,clamping means momentarily operable upon initiation of such change toengage the cloth, and a cylindrical member having an enlargementextending longitudinally thereof momentarily rotatable into engagementwith the cloth and acting to stretch the same and thereby cause alimited rearward movement of the fell of the cloth to prevent theproduction of a thin place in the cloth.

5. A loom having means operable by a filling fork upon detection offailure of filling to effect a change in the operation of the loom,clamping means momentarily operable upon initiation of such change toengage the cloth, and a cylindrical member having an enlargementextending longitudinally thereof and in angular relation to the axis ofsaid cylindrical member momentarily rotatable into engagment with thecloth and acting progressively toward a selvage thereof to stretch thecloth and thereby cause a limited rearward movement of the fell of thecloth to prevent the production of a thin place in the cloth.

6. A loom having means operable by a filling fork upon detection offailure of filling to effect a change in the operation of the loom,guiding members spaced apart over which the cloth is directed to thetakeup roll, clamping means co-operating with the rearward guidingmember operable upon initiation of such change in the operation of theloom momentarily to clamp the cloth thereupon, and means intermediate ofsaid guiding members momentarily movable transversely of the cloth whileclamped, acting to stretch the cloth and thereby cause a limitedrearward movement of the fell of the cloth to prevent the production ofa thin place in the cloth.

7. A loom having means operable by a filling fork upon detection offailure of filling to effect a change in the operation of the loom,guiding members spaced apart over which the cloth is directed to thetake up roll, a shaft located intermediate of said guiding membershaving a longitudinally extending enlargement operable upon rotation ofsaid shaft to engage the cloth intermediate of said guiding members andmove the same transversely therebetween, a clamping member mounted onsaid shaft in co-operative relation to the rearward guiding member, andmeans momentarily operable upon initiation of such change in theoperation of the loom to rotate said shaft and thereby first actuate theclamping member and thereafter to cause said enlargement to engage andstretch the cloth and thereby cause a limited rearward movement of thefell of the cloth to prevent the production of a thin place in thecloth.

8. A loom having means operable by a filling fork upon detection offailure of filling to effect a change in the operation of the loom,guiding members spaced apart for directing the cloth to the take-uproll, a shaft located intermediate of said guiding members havingsecured thereto a cylindrical roller provided with a longitudinallyextending enlargement operable upon rotation of said shaft to engage thecloth intermediate of said guiding members and to move the sametransversely therebetween, clamping member rotatably and yieldablymounted upon said shaft in co-operative relation to the rearward guidingmember, a spring acting upon said shaft normally to hold the enlargementof said roller and said clamp out of engagement with the cloth, andmeans momentarily operable upon initiation of a change in the operationof the loom for rotating said shaft in a dir ction to cause saidclamping member first to clamp the cloth upon said rearward guidingmemher and then to cause said enlargement to stretch the cloth andthereby cause a limited rearward movement of the fell of the cloth toprevent the production of a thin place in the cloth.

9. A loom having means including a controller rod operable by a fillingfork upon detection of failure of filling to effect a change in theoperation of the loom, guiding members spaced apart for directing thecloth to the take-up roll, a shaft located intermediate of said guidingmembers having secured thereto a cylindrical roller provided with alongitudinally extending enlargement operable upon rotation of saidshaft to engage the cloth intermediate of said guiding members and tomove the same transversely therebetween, a clamping member rotata-blyand yieldably mounted upon said shaft in co-operative relation to therearward guiding member, a spring acting upon said shaft normally tohold the enlargement of said roller and said clamp out of engagementwith the cloth, an arm on said shaft, an actuator rod pivotallyconnected to said arm, a rocking lay, co-operatmg means on saidactuating rod and said lay normally disengaged, and means actuated bythe rotation ofsaid controller rod upon initiation of a change in theoperation of the m to effect engagement between said co-operating meansand upon forward movement of the lay to rotate said shaft momentarily tocause said clamping member first to clamp the cloth upon the rearwardguiding member and then to cause the enlargement to stretch the clothand thereby cause a limited rearward movement of the fell of the clothto prevent the production of a thin place in the cloth.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

WILLIAM A. TEBO.

